Howard Bank

Mary Ann ScullyCEO

BRINGING BACK LOCAL BANKING

Howard Bank is a full-service commercial bank focused on the communities within Greater Baltimore. “Historically, the bank has focused on combining high-touch outreach with expert advice and a broad array of commercial services for growing small and medium-sized businesses,” says CEO Mary Ann Scully. “The bank has consistently grown in size, profitability and reputation by successfully delivering on this promise.”

Quick Tip: “The employees of a growing company need to grow as well — in skills, discipline, perspective.”

Howard Bank is also growing a residential mortgage operation, using its signature combination of expertise and personal handholding with community members who want to become homeowners. But, as Scully notes, “the best growth strategies are only as good as the talent in the organization to execute and deliver on the strategy. Choosing the right talent for the right time, and grooming and rewarding that talent, is the most important task for any leader committed to growth.” Leading talent at a fast-growing organization has held many lessons, says Scully, but “the most important and most painful is that growth represents change, and change is often threatening, especially to employees who might not be able or simply might not want to change themselves. … [The people] who took us to where we are may not be the people who can take us where we need to go.”